Last Chance Teacher Traci Rumsey Thinks Of Her Class As A Second Chance

March 28, 1996|by KATHLEEN PARRISH, The Morning Call

Bangor teacher Traci Rumsey knows her students well.

She knows that any lesson straight from the pages of a textbook isn't going to fly. She knows praise motivates better than criticism. She knows success is measured by something less tangible than a grade.

Her students have her down pat, too.

They know that in the classroom she is the boss. They know she has their best interests at heart. They know she is on their side.

Rumsey, 33 and a new hire to the district (she had been a substitute for three years before), heads the alternative education program at Bangor Junior High. The program began this year, and has served 13 students so far. Recently, it was cited by the Pennsylvania Association of Secondary School Principals and Lincoln Investment Planning as one of the best alternative education programs in the state.

Rumsey is the last stop before expulsion and the final chance for students to get back on the straight path.

The students that end up in Rumsey's class got there for committing an assortment of offenses, ranging from calling a teacher a bad name to failing a class. Some are bullies. Some are obnoxious and can disrupt a lesson with a spitball.

Their crimes are not egregious, but to a teacher struggling to convey the properties of an isosceles triangle, any outburst is unwelcome.

No matter their wrongdoing, these are not kids without futures. Some of them temporarily lost their way. Others were never given a guidebook.

For many, their biggest problem is themselves.

"A lot of it is growing pains," Rumsey explained. "Junior high is a lot different than elementary school. The hormonal thing kicks in. I don't think any one of them is a dangerous criminal. I just think they need some guidance."

Take Charles, for example. Good-looking in a tough-guy sort of way, Charles is the class clown, whose big heart is hidden beneath layers of self-defense. He burps out loud, speaks when he's not supposed to, and employs a distractingly colorful vocabulary.

But inside, Charles is just a 15-year-old boy who has had a tough life. "Teachers don't like me," he said. "I'm always in trouble."

Before, Charles said, he would curse teachers and throw pencils in class. He seldom completed a homework assignment and was failing most of his classes.

In Rumsey's class he pulled up his F average to a C, and the only name he calls Rumsey is friend. "Mrs. Rumsey is my favorite teacher," he said with sincerity. "She's awesome."

His enthusiasm for Rumsey is shared by most of the youths in her class.

So how has an athletic mother of two not only managed to endear herself to a group of rowdy teen-agers, but gained their respect as well?

"I don't berate them or belittle them. I don't think I'm better than them," she said. "I'm very honest and up front, I don't lie. I will stick up for them if I feel they are right. I'm not a person with a hidden agenda and they can see that."

In a scene straight from the movie "Dangerous Minds," a true story about a junior high school teacher who transforms wayward students, Rumsey bought her class ice cream bars for completing an assignment.

LouAnne Johnson, the teacher the movie is based on, initially used candy bars to get students to participate in class. Later, the gift of an educated mind was enough for some of the teen-agers to stay on course.

Rumsey confesses that she hasn't seen "Dangerous Minds" and doesn't plan to. That's Hollywood, she said.

So what makes Rumsey a success where others have failed?

"I have time to address their individual needs," she explained. "With a class full of 30 kids, other teachers don't have that luxury."

"You have more patience than other teachers," a student volunteered.

"I'm the goddess of patience," she said. But there's more to it than that.

When Rumsey teaches she understands that the MTV, pierced nose, flannel shirt generation in front of her is a hard sell. When the class studied Homer's "Iliad" they used a comic book. To illustrate the benefits of working as a team, Rumsey broke the class into groups of three and had them put together a puzzle.

She chooses material that is not only age-appropriate but germane. The class has read "Rumblefish" and "The Outsiders," stories about youths struggling to fit in. "I try to do things that are appropriate for their demeanor," Rumsey said.

They discuss real life issues such as drugs, sexual harassment and peer pressure. "I want them to learn how to be responsible and not grow up to be drug-users and wife-beaters," she said.

Once a week, Rumsey's class reads to elementary students as a way of instilling the importance of learning.

Both groups benefit. The teen-agers, many of whom have self-esteem problems, feel important, and the wide-eyed first-graders receive attention from junior high students.

"My kids think the older kids are absolutely wonderful," said first-grade teacher Kathy Kreider. "Anytime they get attention from older kids it's positive. It's good for them to see that the older kids are still reading."